Top 10 Most Popular Thai Dishes

Thailand shares a mixed plate of culture, which is quite apparent in its language, way of life, belief system and artistic tradition. Thailand was once home to a diverse collection of ethnicities, however over long years of peaceful reciprocity, these various cultures exchanged ideas and intermingled in an environment of shared respect, and the resulting blend has been durable. Most of all, what you see today is Thai and Chinese mixed cultural features and their beliefs at the highest social level. When it comes closer to everyday life in ordinary society, this blending of Thai and Chinese cultural ideas can also very much relish in food!

Many Thai dishes are made with ingredients that were originally Chinese, and there is a long list of foods that are Thai-Chinese hybrids. One example is tao jio lon. A typical Thai meal includes five main flavours: salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy. Indeed, most Thai dishes are not considered satisfying unless they combine all five of them. While the seasoning can be spicy for a foreign palate, Thai food ensures that a balance of all flavours is present.

Turn off the stove, wrap up the leftovers, and set your kitchen timers because we are on a tasty drive towards the most popular Thai dishes! 

Discover The Taste of Thailand with These Top 10 Most Popular Thai Dishes!

Pad Thai Dish

Pad Thai is one of your go-to take-out dishes when you are in the mood for a big, comforting bowl of noodles. Apart from being Thailand's National Dish, Pad Thai is rated as one of the most delicious foods in the world. Moreover, Pad Thai is a dish where you can savour 5 different flavours at once – salty, sweet, bitter, sour and spicy.

The Pad in Pad Thai means to stir fry, so it's a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as street food and at most restaurants in Thailand as part of the country's cuisine. It is typically made with rice noodles, chicken, beef or tofu, peanuts, a scrambled egg, and bean sprouts, among other vegetables. The flavours of this dish are centred around a sweet-savoury fusion. Salty, nutty, and with that slightly sweet sauce, it's a treat for tastebuds! Of course, every Pad Thai can be different, some uses fish, some use chicken, and some use tofu. Talking of Tofu, which literally watered our mouth, by the way, is another star to this dish adding to which gives the extra crisp to this dish, especially when it's oven-baked and then deep-fried because then it holds all the flavour and texture in it.

In addition, Pad Thai is an easy-to-make Thai dish with great taste. Pad Thai brings people together. Aside from the subtle explosion of its flavours that foodies can enjoy, its history also tells you that eating it was once patriotic and gave the nation its independence. This is the reason it's served with a smile. This is the reason why there's more to it than meets the eye.

Tom Yum Soup

 It is a type of hot and sour Thai soup, usually cooked with shrimp (prawn). Tom yum has its origin in Thailand and is characterised by its distinct hot and sour flavours, with fragrant spices and herbs generously used in the broth. The soup is also made with fresh ingredients such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce, and crushed red chilli peppers.

The taste of tom yum is based on sour and spicy flavours. A paste called Nam prik pao is prepared as a base of the soup, to which water, herbs and meat are added. The nam prik pao is made from roasted chillies, shallots, and garlic, and the ingredients are best grilled on a charcoal fire. 

The most popular tom yum base is river shrimp called tom yum goong. Tom refers to the boiling process, while yam means 'mixed', which is the whole point of this cuisine. Commercial tom yum paste is made by crushing all the herb ingredients and stir-frying in oil. Then, seasoning and other preservative ingredients are added. The paste is bottled or packaged and sold around the world. Tom yum flavoured with the paste may have different characteristics from that made with fresh herb ingredients, it often includes meats such as shrimp, chicken, or pork. This cuisine is now also considered a must-have in most restaurant menus in Malaysia, especially in the Peninsular States.

Don't want to prepare Tom Yum's sauce from scratch? We know it can be very painstaking when your starving stomach is craving fooood! Buy Seasoning Sauces and flavoursome spices from Big C  to make it more inviting for you, with the Big C Promo Code so that you don't lose your appetite while checkout!

Do you know, Thai food is one of the most popular cuisines in the world and is liked for its distinct and strong flavours? It is both healthy and tasty. Thai food is healthy; a lot of green vegetables and herbs are used in it. It is a blend of sweet, bitter, sour and salty flavours. Who among the world shows the strongest preference for strong flavours? Canadians! Canadian operators use a wide selection of sauces and condiments on dishes with Thai flavours. Curry sauces are the most frequently used options for Thai dishes in Canada, according to Menu Monitor data. Many diners prefer curry sauce over other sauces and flavours in appetizers, soups and entrées due to its bold taste.

Thai Red Curry

It is a popular Thai dish consisting of red curry paste cooked in coconut milk with meat added, such as chicken, beef, pork, duck or shrimp, or vegetarian protein source such as tofu.

You must be wondering what gives the red colour to the Thai Red Curry. The base Thai red curry paste is traditionally made with a mortar and pestle and remains moist throughout the preparation process. The red colouring is derived from dry red spur chillies (phrik haeng met yai) – which is dried phrik chi fa red chillies. The main ingredients include (dried) red chilli peppers, garlic, shallots, galangal, shrimp paste, salt, kaffir lime leaves, coriander root, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns and lemongrass.

The prepared red curry paste is cooked on a saucepan with cooking oil, to which coconut milk is added. Then the meat as a protein source is added into the curry-base soup. Various kinds of meats could be made as red curries, such as chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, duck, or even exotic meats such as frog and snake meats. The most common, however, are chicken, pork and beef. The meat is cut into bite-sized pieces. Common additives are fish sauce, sugar, chopped kaffir lime leaves, Thai eggplant, bamboo shoots, Thai basil (bai horapha).

Today, the prepared Thai curry pastes are available at markets produced in mass quantities, and also available in bottled jars produced by some brands. So, to grab these magic stuffed jars, use the AliExpress TH Promo Code and make exotic Thai dishes at home full of flavour at the lowest costs. 

Pad Thai Goong Sod

This ubiquitous noodle dish has been a longstanding favourite street food among Thai and foreign visitors and available at any streetside stall as well as at most Thai restaurants. Usually made with sen jan – flat, chewy rice noodles hailing from Chantaburi Province - fried in a mixture of pork, tofu, beansprouts, fresh prawns (goong sod) and peanuts with just the right balance of sweet and sour from tamarind juice, lime, fish sauce, and sugar to name but a few, it’s a dish that will put your taste buds into overdrive.

The fun fact about Pad Thai Goong Sod is that it only takes 15 minutes to prepare for a meal that serves 6 people! The sauce, which is the essence of the dish can simply be prepared using 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons tamarind pulp. Stir the ingredients in a pan on low flame for 3-5 minutes and there you have a hot, sizzling sauce ready to make your dish heavenly. 

Khao Pad (Fried Rice)

Khao pad is maybe comparable to England’s love of sandwiches – consumed on mass Khao pad is a Thai go-to. Khao pad simply translates to “fried rice” and is just that with some egg, onion and that’s about it. The dish usually comes with slices of cucumber to garnish and plenty of condiments are usually dumped on top to suit the consumer’s taste. 

How do you made Khao Pads you ask? Take two cups of cooked Jasmine rice which have been left for a few hours, some onions, garlic cloves, fish sauce, soy sauce, white pepper and half a lime. Pour some Canola oil into the pan and add onions and garlic to it. Saute over medium flame for about a minute and add the cooked Jasmine rice to it. Scramble 2 eggs and add to the rice once hot, and let the mixture become well accumulated. Add spring onions or your favoured seasonings as dressing and serve hot with a sliced lime on the side. 

Pad Krapow (Fried Basil)

Krapow in Thai means "Holy Basil". Pad krapow usually is made using minced pork or chicken (it’s also great with tofu) which is stir-fried with Thai basil and plenty of chillies. 

Pad krapow is definitely not a dish for picky eaters: The Thai basil has a very sharp, peppery flavour, while the chillies add a hefty dose of spice. You can always take the heat down a notch by asking the vendor to make it “pet nit noi” (only a little spicy). Also known as the Pad Krapow Moo which is Thai Basil Pork stir fry, it is usually eaten with fried egg and rice. Ideal for a hearty lunch, from a party dish to a weekend get-together,  it is served with white rice and topped with an oozing running friend egg “kai dao” which blends through the rest of the dish for an unforgettable taste sensation.

Khao Soi (creamy coconut curry noodle soup)

Arguably the quintessential northern Thai dish, Khao soi is a Burmese-inspired coconut curry noodle soup. Available in chicken, beef, pork or vegetarian options, this mouth-watering dish has a rich coconut curry base, boiled egg noodles and is garnished with deep-fried crispy egg noodles, pickled mustard greens, shallots, lime and ground chillies fried in oil. Khao soi should be on every traveller’s ‘must eat’ list in northern Thailand with Chiang Mai being considered the khao soi mecca.

Don't worry, we know how toothsome Thai's cuisines and their varieties in curry pastes could be, that's why we are here with Foodpanda Discount Code TH  for every crazy foodie! 

Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad)

Here is another healthy yet flavoursome alternative from Thai cuisine. To many westerners, it might sound a strange idea to combine fruit, peanuts and shrimp and call it a salad. Does it even work? The answer is, yes, it really does, and for those who dislike the dish, it’s usually because it’s too fiery for them. The dish is a northern one that has become popular all over Thailand, as well as outside it. The salad is completed with garlic, green beans, and of course, chillies, along with the other ingredients.

All you need to do to make Som Tam is add lime juice, soy sauce and fish sauce to shredded Papaya, long beans and tomato and mix the ingredients well so that the papaya incorporates the juices. Remember not to add salt in the garnish since the soy sauce and fish sauce are enough to add that tang.  

Yum Nua (Spicy Beef Salad)

If you are a really spicy-with-chillies-on-top type foodie, then this dish will make you fall in love with the strong flavours! Tender strips of beef are mixed with fresh vegetables and herbs, such as fresh mint leaves, cilantro, green onions, red onions, sweet tomatoes, and seedless cucumber. Then everything is soaked in a thrillingly spicy juice made of Thai chillies, fresh lime juice, fish sauce, and stevia.

This healthy and flavour-packed salad can be served as a delicious starter or alongside any dish in varying quantities to add the wholesome to it! Alternately you can always add it to your main course with some hot fried rice on the side to satisfy your health-conscious appetite.   

Pad Phak (Fried Vegetables)

Last but least, ending our top dishes for veggie lovers, this Thai classic will leave vegetarians and carnivores alike full and content. Most Thai dishes attempt to combine as many flavours as possible to make the most noteworthy dishes, and stir-fried vegetables are no exception. It’s worth not underestimating the flavour of these fried vegetables as they are mixed with a perfectly harmonious blend of sugar, salt and spices.

You can enjoy these tasty Thai dishes, not merely in Thailand but across the world since they have become quite the sensation. However, the foodie in you may not still be content. Make these Thai dishes at your home with plenty of discounts using the Big C Discount Code and enrich your taste with a new meal every day!

DONE WITH SPILLING THE BEANS, BUT THAT'S THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLES!!! HAPPY EATING!

Also read: How to make fresh vegetable Spring Rolls?

By: Vouchers Portal TH